As with most of my tea reviews… this is the first of this kind. Welcome to my teapot, pu-erh!

I, of course, let this sit a little too long before drinking. I usually like my tea right out of the kettle, and I got a little sidetracked. (Once you start organizing something, you just can’t stop.) But despite that, I’m not complaining about this cup. I stuck my nose in the leaves beforehand and it was a pleasant, dark, woodsy kind of smell. Apparently [judging by other reviews here, yes I cheat] it has a mossy, fungus-like quality. Like this scares me. I eat mushrooms raw.

The tea itself has that same earthy quality to it. I’m not quite bold enough to go over a 2-minute steep right now, but this seems about right for me. It doesn’t smell like much in the cup, but has that sharp, almost spicy taste going down. Again with that “spicy but not really” adjective. What else did I use that for? Oolong? Perhaps.